A new 'biased coin design' for the sequential allocation of two treatments

Summary.  Efron's biased coin design is a well-known randomization technique that helps to neutralize selection bias in sequential clinical trials for comparing treatments, while keeping the experiment fairly balanced. Extensions of the biased coin design have been proposed by several researchers who have focused mainly on the large sample properties of their designs. We modify Efron's procedure by introducing an adjustable biased coin design, which is more flexible than his. We compare it with other existing coin designs; in terms of balance and lack of predictability, its performance for small samples appears in many cases to be an improvement with respect to the other sequential randomized allocation procedures.     

全球视野里的中国可持续发展

现有文献大多从中国的国情出发对中国的可持续发展进行研究 ,从一个更为宏大的国际视角来分析这一问题的著作尚不多见。本文力图从全球的视野来观察中国的可持续发展问题 ,并从“作为一种发展战略的可持续发展思想的缘起及其全球性意义”、“用世界的眼光看中国的基本国情”、“用世界的眼光看中国的发展及其发展方式”、“用世界的眼光看中国的可持续发展战略”等四个方面对此展开论述     

Income Share Elasticity and Stochastic Dominance

Income share elasticity is a function π which can describe the size distribution of income (Esteban in Intern Econ Rev 27:439–444, 1986). On the other hand, the conventional density representation of the latter gives parameters of first or second order stochastic dominance (SD), widely used to describe shifts in income distribution, to which inequality measures are attached. The paper draws a link between the two, by providing conditions such that a given shift to π is equivalent to a first or second order SD shift of the distribution of income. Some applications to Lorenz rankings are also provided.     

Retail competition in the fast-moving consumer goods industry: The case of France and the UK

UK retailers in the fast-moving consumer goods industry focus their strategy on building loyalty through quality ‘own’ labels. By contrast, French retailers compete aggressively on price. Judy and Marcel Corstjens, and Rajiv Lal argue that either a ‘two-tier’ or parallel system will evolve in the future or a national industry will tend to oscillate from one strategy to another. Retailers must decide which of the two strategies they will consistently adopt.     

Kinship care for children in the UK: messages from research,lessons for policy and practice1

This article presents a comprehensive overview of kinship care, or as it is also known, family and friends care, paying particular attention to the UK child welfare, legal, policy/practice contexts. The aim of the article is to raise awareness, and provide information, about a hitherto largely invisible, yet expanding placement option being widely used in child welfare systems in the UK, in Europe and elsewhere. The article places kinship care within a UK and European child welfare legal context, including the European Convention on Human Rights 1998 [Articles 8 and 14] and European kinship care developments are also highlighted. It contains the main findings of a kinship care research study conducted by the author, based on interviews with children and young people living with kinship carers, as well as with the kinship carers. Following an examination of theoretical and policy issues, the article examines ways forward for developing and supporting kinship care. In the final section, and based on the research findings and literature review, a new paradigm for child welfare is introduced. It is argued that this new paradigm is necessary in order for kinship care practice and policy to develop within a supported and sustainable family support framework.     

The politics of sexuality: Toward a radical-critical approach

From a radical-critical perspective, the gap between the everyday world as experienced and the sociological world as theorized is nowhere so apparent as in the area of human sexuality. Conventional research on human sexuality appears atheoretical, ahistorical, and reductionistic. The viability of a radical-critical alternative is demonstrated with examples of research and theory in three sub-areas: (1) sexuality as identity (socialization approach); (2) sexuality as ideology (comparative and historical approach); and (3) sexuality as power (political-economic approach). The paper discusses three distinguishing characteristics of the radical-critical perspective. The approach: (1) is holistic and historical; (2) urges theoretical explanation for each topic of sexuality under investigation; and (3) offers a critical evaluation of thestatus quo and calls for radical change.     

Maintaining strategic momentum: The CEO''s agenda

How does the chief executive of a large complex organization maintain strategic momentum? This represents a great challenge when there are no obvious external threats, and no obvious reasons for having a concerted action. Floris Maljers, Charles Baden-Fuller and Frans van den Bosch explore the inherent tensions which exist between stability and change. Change is necessary to maintain success, but too much change is disastrous. The authors argue that there are several possible solutions to this paradox, including that of generating periods of intense activity followed by periods of comparative stability and incremental improvement. Using the introspection of one of the CEOs of Unilever, who held office from 1984 to 1994, the authors examine how these tensions were played out and resolved.